Part 4
Daniel looked past Nora toward Avery.
“She told you, didn’t she?”
Avery’s grip shifted on the ice pack.
Elena rose.
“What did she tell me?”
“That I gave Aunt Beatrice the clinic name.”
“Did you?”
“I mentioned it.”
“You disclosed private information Avery gave you in confidence.”
“I was trying to help.”
Avery laughed once. It was a small, broken sound.
Daniel’s attention moved to her.
“I was.”
“You told her I was refusing to cooperate.”
“You were refusing.”
“With what?”
“With clearing up what happened.”
Avery lowered the ice pack.
“What happened to me is not a family public-relations problem.”
“No one said it was.”
“You did. Every time you asked whether the report would be ready before the luncheon.”
Daniel rubbed his cheek.
“My engagement has been under pressure for three weeks because you created a scene and then refused to explain it.”
Elena stepped into the doorway.
“She lost consciousness.”
“She recovered.”
“That is not an answer.”
“She wouldn’t let anyone call for help.”
Avery stood too quickly. The water in her glass shifted over the rim and spotted her dress.
“I was afraid.”
Daniel’s expression changed, but only briefly.
“Of what?”
She stared at him.
He seemed to think the question was reasonable.
Elena closed the distance between them.
“Leave.”
“Mother—”
“Go to your room, go to a hotel, go anywhere you can sit with what you did without asking Avery to make it easier for you.”
“This is my home.”
“It is my house.”
His face hardened.
There it was, the old conflict they had both pretended was about renovation budgets, foundation votes, or whether the west pasture should be leased. Daniel believed Greyhaven was his inheritance in waiting. Elena had allowed that belief because correcting it would have forced them to discuss what kind of man he was becoming.
“You’re going to use the house against me now?” he asked.
“I am going to use the front door.”
Nora’s gaze dropped, perhaps to hide the smallest reaction.
Daniel looked at Avery again.
“Did you know the report was coming today?”
“Yes.”
“And you chose the engagement luncheon.”
“The clinic chose the courier date.”
“You could have had it sent somewhere else.”
Avery’s face went still.
Elena opened the door wider.
“Out.”
Daniel did not move.
For one unpleasant second, Elena wondered whether he would make Nora call security for him too. Then he stepped back.
“You should be careful,” he said to his mother. “You’re angry enough to destroy things you won’t be able to rebuild.”
Elena looked at the red mark on his cheek.
“So should you.”
He left.
Nora closed the door.
Avery sat again and pressed the ice pack to her head.
“I don’t want him thrown out because of me.”
“He was not asked to leave because of you.”
“He’ll say he was.”
“Yes.”
“And people will believe him.”
“Some will.”
Avery looked exhausted by the possibility.
Elena sat across from her.
“You do not have to release that report to anyone.”
“What if it would stop them?”
“It might stop one accusation and begin ten others.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No,” Elena said. “You asked whether evidence can make cruel people ashamed. Sometimes. More often, it gives them new material.”
Nora moved from the window.
“We should preserve the envelope as delivered,” she said. “I can place it in the study safe until Avery decides what she wants.”
Avery looked at her. “Can you make a copy without opening it?”
“Of the exterior, yes.”
“Do that.”
Nora nodded.
“And write down who saw it arrive,” Avery added. “And that Beatrice knew it was coming.”
Elena heard the steadiness returning to her voice.
“Are you thinking of making a police report?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to decide today.”
“I know.”
Avery pressed the linen more firmly against her scalp.
“Can someone drive me home?”
“You can stay here.”
“I don’t want to.”
Elena tried not to show how much the answer hurt.
Avery saw it anyway.
“Not because of you,” she said. “I just don’t want to sleep in a house where every hallway feels like someone might step out and ask me to defend being sick.”
Elena nodded.
“I understand.”
She did not, not completely. Understanding would have required living inside Avery’s body while Beatrice’s hand closed over her hair and Daniel remained seated. Elena could only believe what Avery said and behave accordingly.
“I’ll drive you,” she said.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you need to stay here.”
“For Daniel?”
“For yourself.”
Elena almost argued.
Nora spoke first. “I’ll arrange the car.”
Avery thanked her.
After she left the room with Miriam to repair her hair and change into a coat, Elena remained on the sofa beneath Thomas’s portrait.
Nora stood by the fireplace.
“You should photograph Daniel’s cheek,” she said.
Elena looked up.
“For the record?”
“For accuracy. There were witnesses. He may describe the force differently later.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“I slapped my son.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t regret stopping him from speaking.”
“That is not the same as not regretting the slap.”
“No.”
Nora waited.
It was one of the qualities Elena valued most in her. Nora did not rescue people from sentences they needed to finish.
“I was wrong to hit him,” Elena said.
“Yes.”
“I would still cross that room.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what to do with both facts.”
“You live with both.”
Elena opened her eyes.
“That sounds expensive.”
“Most honest things are.”
A faint, unwilling smile touched Elena’s mouth and disappeared.
Outside the morning room, a catering cart rattled over a threshold. Someone dropped a stack of plates, and the crash was followed by hurried apologies. The house had resumed its ordinary work around the ruins of the afternoon.
Nora adjusted the cuff of her charcoal jacket.
“Russell Mercer asked whether the engagement contract has a morality clause.”
Elena stared at her.
“The luncheon ended twelve minutes ago.”
May you like
“He is efficient when frightened.”
“What did you tell him?”
